Directed by: Phil Lord & Christopher Miller
Distributed by: Amazon MGM Studios
Written by Taylor Baker
60/100
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the duo who were once replaced by Ron Howard on “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” have finally returned to the silver screen–as directors–with a crowd-pleasing sci-fi adaptation of Andy Weir’s novel ‘Project Hail Mary.’ Films released before April are notorious for two things: their lack of quality (not being good) and poor performance at the box office. “Project Hail Mary” seems poised to break through this pre-April curse, though. Lord and Miller, after being away for 12 years, have made an exceptionally broad and watchable film with a star (Ryan Gosling) whose affability and vulnerability find a serviceable home in the lead character of Ryland Grace.
The film’s reliance on structured flashbacks, while surely a workable narrative conceit within a novel, play plainly on screen, too often telling us the plot in an uninteresting way when juxtaposed against the contemporary timeline of Ryland scraping tooth and nail to find salvation for humanity and our sun. The artificiality of these flashbacks causes one to think of Billy Wilder’s advice on narration: “In doing voice-overs, be careful not to describe what the audience already sees. Add to what they’re seeing.” Daniel Pemberton’s score feels false, and is guilty of the sin of being noticeable, something that generally is a bad sign with anything besides a film’s theme.
Visually, the film is on surer footing. Greig Fraser’s cinematography, in conjunction with the post effects team, gives the Eridian spacecraft a tactile quality, wonderfully depicting Rocky — whose design is simple, intuitive, and communicates the technological evolution of the Eridian species and its relationship with the physical world seamlessly. Sandra Hüller brings her usual precision to the pragmatic character of Eva Stratt. While it is a relatively serious role, she navigates some of its comedic elements with a deftness that shows she’s more than ready to take blockbuster crossover roles in American films.
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller showcase a style of direction that leans toward appeasing crowds and isn’t particularly artistic or invigorating. But it’s more than sufficient to entertain a whole family at the theater — a blockbuster in the truest, most unpretentious sense of the word. There are far worse movies to see at the theater in March than “Project Hail Mary.”
“Project Hail Mary” Trailer
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